Before the New York Mets thrashed the Texas Rangers 14-2 on Monday night, Texas starting pitcher Jacob deGrom spoke with reporters about his tenure with the Mets that ran from the 2014 MLB season through the 2022 campaign.
“I’m forever thankful for the Mets organization,” deGrom explained, as shared by Alex Smith of SNY. “I’ve said that before. They drafted me and I spent nine years of my career there. I definitely enjoyed my time there, and when I was a Met my goal was to put the team in a position to win and leave it all out on the field, and that’s what I tried to do every fifth day. So, I’m thankful for the opportunity that the organization gave me.”
A two-time National League Cy Young Award winner, deGrom reached free agency in the fall of 2022 but seemingly was close to re-signing with the Mets in early December of that year before he inked a five-year contract reportedly worth $185M that carries a conditional sixth-year option to join the Rangers.
SNY’s Andy Martino later reported that “deGrom never gave the Mets the chance to make a last, best offer” before he bolted for Texas, and some suggested at the time the right-hander simply wanted to move away from New York.
Last fall, deGrom insisted such takes were “not true.”
The Mets won’t face deGrom this week as he recovers from Tommy John surgery, which he needed last June. Texas will play at Citi Field next season, but it’s too early to say if deGrom will take the bump for any of those games.
“Honestly, I haven’t thought about it,” deGrom said about possibly facing the Mets in 2025. “I thought I was going to get to play there last year, and unfortunately ended up having to get surgery. That will be interesting. The fans were always great to me there. Like I said, my goal is to always leave it out on the field for the team and for the fans. Now the goal is to get back healthy and do that here.”
Outsiders may never fully understand why deGrom allegedly didn’t give big-spending Mets owner Steve Cohen an opportunity to match or better Texas’ contract months after New York notched 101 victories during the 2022 regular season. As dominant as deGrom was when at his best with the Mets, his club legacy is complicated considering the time he missed due to injuries and the way he left the organization.
Thus far, the Mets undeniably have benefitted from not having the sidelined deGrom on their books over the past year-and-a-half.